Reynolds: Freshman lost in translation

The curious case of Shayok Shayok continues to boggle minds among those who follow Bradley men’s basketball.

The 6-foot-8 forward was quite possibly the Braves’ most consistent and productive performer in preseason practices. He showed a solid inside-outside game offensively, was an effective rebounder and a quick learner defensively.

The curious case of Shayok Shayok continues to boggle minds among those who follow Bradley men’s basketball.

The 6-foot-8 forward was quite possibly the Braves’ most consistent and productive performer in preseason practices. He showed a solid inside-outside game offensively, was an effective rebounder and a quick learner defensively.

Shayok earned a starting spot as a true freshman, a rarity in the Missouri Valley Conference.

But once the games began — from the exhibitions on — he’s been anything but consistent.

There have been flashes of what he’s shown in practice, particularly in Bradley’s comeback win over Southeast Missouri State when he scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds.

The first half at Wyoming was also a positive as he snagged five rebounds and played strong defense.

But most nights in uniform have presented head-scratching moments. He’s missed free throws badly (3-for-8 from the line, including an air ball), air-mailed jumpers feet beyond the rim and had difficulty handling the ball (averaging a turnover every eight minutes).

Tuesday against Northeastern yielded a new wrinkle.

Immediately, Shayok snatched an offensive rebound, but threw up an off-balance shot that didn’t come close to the rim. Then he launched a 3-pointer from the corner that sailed well over the basket.

When he didn’t step out to defend his man on a 3-point attempt, BU coach Geno Ford had seen enough and subbed him out. And for the first time, Shayok didn’t get back into the game after those initial two minutes.

“It’s something we’ll have to figure out,” Ford said. “(Tuesday night) he didn’t get off to a good start and then became victim to Jake (Eastman), Milos (Knezevic) and Jalen (Crawford) playing well, so he didn’t get back in. One thing is they were zoning, and he has played better against man than zone.”

Ford said the coaching staff would evaluate whether Shayok would be better suited coming off the bench. But if that happened, Eastman would become a starter and the team would then lose the junior swingman’s spark off the bench.

Because of final exams, the Braves don’t play until Thursday at George Washington so there’s still plenty of time to decide the best approach.

“We certainly haven’t lost any confidence in Shayok,” Ford said. “We see it in practice. He’ll have to fight through it and carry it over to the games. At this point, he has certainly continued to be very productive in practices. When the game slows down for him a little bit, he’ll show up more on game night.”

A better bench: Bradley’s 79-68 win over Northeastern marked the bench’s best game of the season.

“For us to win games, we’ve got to get more performance and consistent production from guys coming off the bench,” Ford said. “For the whole season, Jake has been the one guy who has done that. The last four games, I would add Anthony there. Now you’ve got two games of Jalen and then Milos on Tuesday.

“So we’re starting to develop a little bit of a rotation of guys who can come in and impact the game instead of just logging minutes, which is what was happening early in the season.”

Ford put his players through a useful exercise prior to the season opener, asking each of them to write down how many minutes they thought they should play that night.

The total for the possible 200-minute regulation game came to 340 minutes.

“I explained to ’em if the game goes to seven overtimes you’ll all get exactly what you want,” Ford said. “Barring that, every minute is valuable. It’s not about the minutes, It’s about what you do in those minutes.”

Braves briefs: The MVC is off to a good start with four teams in the top 30 of the RPI (UNI 5, Creighton 11, Indiana State 29 and Wichita State 30). The league is 9-9 against BCS schools compared to 11-22 all of last year. Through Wednesday’s games, the Valley is ranked No. 8 among 33 Division I conferences, with the No. 5 strength of schedule. ... During the current finals week, the Braves’ practice schedule has been and will continue to be sporadic. BU will leave Wednesday for its East Coast trip, chartering first to Washington, D.C. for a Thursday night game against George Washington. BU was off Wednesday and Thursday and will practice Friday night. There will be regular workouts Saturday and Sunday with Monday off. “We want to make sure guys have the time to be successful during finals week,” Ford said. “But we have to make sure our practices are high energy and as game-like as you can make a practice.” ... BU signee Ka’Darryl Bell of Oak Park-River Forest injured his wrist in a game last weekend. X-rays were negative, but Bell is seeing a specialist for further evaluation.

Dave Reynolds covers Bradley men’s basketball for the Journal Star. Contact him at 686-3210 or dreynolds@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @davereynolds2.